Photosynthesize

Batty · May 23, 2017

Being constrained to an island left Florencia with very little options in regards to guest stars on her talk show. After the morning news was over, she enjoyed highlighting those around Manta Carlos, both to get them some promotion as well as give herself her paycheck. She’d chatted with her fair share of business owners, tycoons, and magically gifted citizens. A resource she hasn’t quite tapped into yet however were the staff at the local academy. They must have had some interesting stories to share, and when she heard of a plant man who teaches something about magical plants, she was hooked.

Now, Florencia wasn’t particularly inclined with the sciences, nor did she know a whole bunch about any of her guests before coming on. Most of the time her producers were the ones that generated questions for her to ask when she couldn’t quite fill the gaps in herself. Her usual first impressions came on when they first walked the stage- She was a busy woman, after all.

So when the director began counting down from ten, Flo knew she was in for a surprise. She sat in her usual white sofa, adjacent to another empty one for now. The whole studio had a homely feel despite the lights beating down their heat. Wouldn’t want to scare any guests away.

In 5…. 4… 3… 2…

”Goooooooood morning Manta Carlos! As always I am your host, Florencia Goomez, here to bring you the latest trends and happenings that occur on this lovely island of ours.” She traced her ‘eyes’ up at the live studio audience to receive their applause, then onto the teleprompter. ”Thank you, thank you. On beautiful sundays like this it’s always a great idea to be tending to gardens and getting close to nature. Before you head on out though, have you all ever considered the magic that can go behind horticulture? Here to introduce the wonderful and mysterious field of Botanical Alchemy is a professor at Starlight Academy. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Bara!”

As always, she gestured her arm over to stage left as the audience cheered. Who or what would come onto this stage was a mystery. Secretly, she kicked herself for not getting the chance to meet them beforehand. Hopefully, neither of them would be dissapointed.

@Kait

Kait · May 23, 2017

Finally, a chance to be on television! Bara had fantasized about this ever since he knew television was a thing - he only narrowly went into alchemy instead of television. So many eyes would be on him. So many people see how beautiful he was.

He brought his A game today. The makeup artist at the station couldn't do anything for him, but he did spend as much time as he could in front of the mirror, making minor adjustments to his form to make it just right. He would go with a male form today, since that was the gender he usually wore when he taught. He was tastefully buff - big enough to be impressive, not so much that it would many people off. As though the Ancient Greek sculptors had used wood instead of marble. Dark green leaves for the hair, with a blue flower as an accessory. As a finishing touch, bioluminescent freckles so he would sparkle.

He had the clean, ironed lab coat on. Not the one he wore when he was in the lab, of course - that thing was a mess. The rest of his "clothes" were a part of him.

He was beautiful and he knew it. Strutting onto the stage like a model, waving to the audience and to the cameras on his way to the sofa. He gave one of the cameras a wink.

"It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Florencia."

He had a few talking points prepared, but the comments about gardening caught him a little off guard. He was now wracking his brain to remember which of his students had started a shop for that.

Batty · May 26, 2017

The gesture was soon returned with her guest finally joining her on stage. What was initially odd however was the fact that the audience did not keep up with the normal cordial applause. There was some hooting and whistling from the audience, which baffled her as she kept her eyes to the camera. When she turned to see her guest, that moment of confusion was clarified.

Oh Christ.

The lights began to feel hotter than usual.

He’s hot.

Florencia crossed her legs, folding her hands over them. She needed to remain relaxed. Perhaps it was her assumption that he’d be some dusty old person that would provide for a professional interview. She just wasn’t expecting some chlorophyll-clad heart throb!

”The pleasure is mutual, Professor.” Florencia responded, a bit too perky even for her normally chipper talk-show tone. ”I’m sure the academy provides the best of the best. You must be no exception.” She said with a smile, keeping up pleasantries without digging too much into her emotions.

”So Professor Bara, what exactly does your field entail? From my understanding, you have a very close connection to horticulture and plants. Mind telling us about that?”

Of course, she was just spewing out questions assigned to her. What she really wanted to know wasn’t exactly appropriate for sunday morning television.

Kait · May 27, 2017

"Certainly," he said. He was just as perked up. He absolutely loved being on television so far. "Well, to start, I guess I should say a little bit about Alchemy. Modern day alchemy, not to be confused with nuclear chemistry, is the art and science of manipulating the material Patterns of the world to elicit a magical effect. It's like normal chemistry but with more magic involved so we can... bend the laws of nature, I guess you could say."

He noticed that he was losing some of the audience when he stared talking about material Patterns. He had to remember that not everyone in the audience had taken any alchemy courses, so they would have no idea what a Pattern was with a capital P.

"My research involves using magic and chemistry to make plants do things they aren't supposed to. Sort of like a mad scientist. I'm actually made of plant matter myself, too; I started existing in the Forbidden Forest. The rules about getting rid of magic waste used to be a lot more lax, you know, and I owe my life to that. So I suppose understanding myself has been a factor in my choice of career."

Bara wasn't sure if that had been a question about what he was, but he figured it would be worth clearing up either way. He paused, waiting for Florencia to ask another question

Batty · May 31, 2017

Already, she was invested. Not out of what he had to say, at least not entirely. While Flo was interested in her guests, there was obviously an ulterior motive for being so involved with this particular one. A side-glance to the audience also proved that she wasn’t the only one that felt this way.

Truthfully, she could only barely pick up what he was talking about, as her expertise was in meteorology. Still there was something to be gained by learning about the one type of organism that really relied on sunny days and rainfall. So at least she totally wasn’t zoning out, or otherwise focusing on such unprofessional things.

Although…

No. She was at work. She wasn’t going to pull something so juvenile on camera, especially for someone who was in such a lofty position. After the show would be another thing, but for now she had to focus on the task at hand.

”That’s very interesting, professor. Seeing how magic and science combine is a very important revelation, I’d imagine.” Did she understand all of it? No. But a less boring version of chemistry did raise the attention of some of those before them. On explaining his origins, Flo had a bit of a chuckle. ”I guess we have something in common then. I was made from waste material too, though my career path here hardly has anything to do with that. It’s incredible you’ve found a way to turn your origins into action. Goes to show greatness can come out of anything!”

The audience, judging by their applause, was in agreement. It was time for the next question.

”So what sort of discoveries have you made of late? I’m assuming research is a large portion of your expertise, is there anything important you’ve found out lately that you’d like to share?”

Kait · Jun 3, 2017

Bara grinned, giving a light chuckle. He agreed - he really was an example of greatness - but saying so might have been a little tacky. They moved on. The audience seemed to love him.

"Well, I'm juggling a lot of projects right now. Some of the more useful ones have to do with agriculture. I've figured out a system to make some crops grow about ten times as fast as they normally do, in a hydroponics bay. I've tried to make a plant grow one thousand times as fast, and its roots bore a hole through the foundation of the science building. So we're not trying that one again!"

He got a couple of chuckles from the audience.

"I've also been studying flora fauna, like me. The usual theory goes that our patterns, which is the metaphysical representation of what we are, shares features with the patterns of plants and of animals. Now, there's no real way to measure or 'see' one of those patterns, but..." the professor looked at his audience again, and he was definitely losing them. "My experiments haven't been consistent with that theory so far," he concluded. They probably wouldn't have understood the finer details.

The comment Florencia made earlier - about being born from pollution - was finally starting to hit him. Maybe there was some important similarity between them that he had been missing this whole time.

Batty · Jul 30, 2017

Flo leaned forward, balancing her gelatinous elbows on equally gooey knees. She was thankful that Bara seemed to the responsible sort when it came to non-traditional science. Having a mad scientist on her show would hurt already dwindling ratings, but Bara would most likely boost morale and trust into the island’s school system. And possibly be for the greater good.

Florencia beamed as Bara explained his findings, briefly glancing at her audience for their laughing approval. ”Well, one step at a time I suppose. It’s really a blessing to have scientists such as yourself hard at work finding solutions to some of society’s most pressing problems.” She assured. After all, Bara’s research may have him close to solving world hunger. And a guy like himself looked like he enjoyed the possibility of being granted the Nobel prize.

Of course, such endeavors weren’t so simple, as shown by the forwarding to the next topic. This one wasn’t so easy to understand- and the audience made it clear. Still, Flo found it disheartening to see that such a compelling guy like Bara couldn’t find the enthusiasm he had for his own pursuits. So, she tried to help the best she could. ”Hmm, so a missing link of sorts? Very, very interesting. I hope your experiments yield answers, expected or unexpected.”

That seemed to strike the audience as more approachable. With a nod, Flo looked at her teleprompter. It was almost time for commercial break, so said the clock, which meant it was onto the next segment. Florencia wanted to bide her time with Bara. To figure him out, both on the show and perhaps afterwards.

”Well professor, is there any piece of advice you would like to share regarding getting young people interested in the STEM fields? After all, I believe you got myself and the audience invested. Isn’t that right everyone?!”

An uproarious applause meant another guest panel successful. They really did share the same sentiments about him that she did.

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